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COUNTDOWN
2002 - Cheshire region Biodiversity Programme
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Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)
Date compiled - 2000
Date reviewed - 2001, 2002
Objective
Halt and reverse the current decline
in breeding pairs.
Current
Status
The bullfinch is a Redlist Species
on the list of Birds of Conservation Concern (RSPB 1996), with a decline in
the breeding population by >50%. It is a UK Biodiversity Steering Group Priority
species. The BTO Common Bird Census indicates there has been a 75% decline on
farmland and a 47% decline in woodland between 1968 and 1991, with a small decrease
in range.
The bullfinch is protected under
the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1991, the EC Birds Directive and the Wildlife
(Northern Ireland) Order 1985.
Estimated UK population 1988-1991 was 190,000 pairs.
BAP Action Group yet to be formed.
Threats
- Loss of nesting and feeding habitat
due to removal of farmland trees, hedgerows and thickets.
- Loss of abundant food sources
(buds, seeds and fruits) due to the removal of shrubs and hedges, and frequent
hedge trimming.
- Increased use of pesticides may
reduce availability of insects, which are fed to the young.
- Agricultural intensification leading
to the loss of rough field margins, which support the seed bearing plants
on which the bullfinch feed.
Current
Action
- The RSPB are in the 2nd year of
a research project on the decline of the bullfinch, based in Oxfordshire.
- BTO Common Bird Census and Breeding
Bird Survey are carried out on an annual ongoing basis.
- BTO 3 year Winter Survey of Farmland
Birds beginning in 1999/2000.
- BTO 3 year Crops for Wintering
Birds Survey 1998-2001.
- New Hedgerow Regulations will
increase nesting habitat and food supply.
- The Countryside Stewardship Schemes
and ESA's provide hedgerow and field margin management practices.
Action
Required
- Identify factors contributing
to the decline of the bullfinch.
- Encourage less excessive use of
herbicides and pesticides.
- Encourage the retention and maintenance
of hedgerows and farmland scrub, particularly through training courses looking
at management of field margins and hedgerows.
- Encourage management practices
on broadleaved and mixed woodland to promote an increase in the population
of bullfinches
Action
Completed
- LBAP Action Group has been formed.
- Links to other farmland Bird BAPs
through the generic farmland bird BAP
- Targeting agri - environment schemes
at farmland bird hotspots in the region.
Actual
LBAP Implementers
RSPB; BTO; CAWOS; CWT; FWAG; Cheshire
County Council; PMH Natural History Services.
Other
potential implementers
BASC; CLA; SECOS.
Contact
Roy Leigh
Phone: 01606 333296
References
HMSO (1995) : Biodiversity: The UK
Steering Group Report, Volume 1: Meeting the Rio Challenge, London.
HMSO (1995): Biodiversity: The UK Steering Group Report, Volume 2: Action Plans,
London.
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